School Hands 13-Year-Old Over to Cops for a Doodle of a Man Hanging, Lawsuit Alleges
Another child victim of zero tolerance policies by schools around the country. The law of contagion led to a freak out over a 13-year-old boy's doodle at a school in Beaverton, Oregon. Via Courthouse News Service:
[Robert] Keller, suing for himself and his son, B.R.K., claims that on May 2, 2013, his 13-year-old son "was interviewed at his school, Raleigh Hills, K-8, by officers of the Beaverton Police Department regarding an alleged threat of harm based on a doodle [showing a person being hanged ] that was drawn during class. B.R.K. was removed from his classroom and placed in the principal's office of Raleigh Hills K-8 to be questioned about offenses that he was alleged to have committed…"
The doodling incident occurred on April 30. Keller says his son was suspended pending a "risk assessment" and that despite telling the school they were not allowed to interview his son without a parent present, a school psychologist and police interviewed the boy. Keller is seeking $100,000 for violations of his son's Fourth and 14th Amendment rights.